Music

Mr. Mandar Deshpande is an educator, playback singer, and performer from Mumbai, India. Innovation in music education and industry aligned technology is something drives him. Holding a post graduate Business Management degree, Mandar is dedicated to skill based & employable music education curricula for India's most popular music institutions. Mandar is driven by different music styles and have been influenced by sounds of India. He is been in music education since 2013. He is certified with Berklee College of Music online and Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was recently honoured with the membership of ISME (International Society for Music Education) which is, working for music education along with UNESCO. His work in background scores and songs for Indian theatre is appreciated and awarded in experimental as well as commercial sector.Milestones:
1. Author and Developer - Bachelor's degree program in Hindustani playback and performance.
2. Author and Instructional designer of a certificate program 'Art of voice in Bollywood music'
3. Author and Content creator - Indian Music content for music learning app 'Learn to Sing'
4. Playback singer - T-Series and Times Music
5. Independent work and collaboration - Symphony of India, Tips Music, Eros Now, Spiritual Mantra and YouTube

Mr. Ajeet Pathak is an eminent Tabla player, who began his training at the tender age of six under the guidance of his father Shri Deochandra Pathak. Thereafter, he had the privilege of learning under the guidance of Tabla Maestros Padma Vibhushan Pt. Kishan Maharaj and Ustad Sabir Khan.
Ajeet Pathak has performed at various national and state-level musical events and is a recognized artist by All India Radio and Doordarshan. He has performed extensively in India, Europe, the Middle East, and the USA and has accompanied many world-renowned artists such as Pt. Siyaram Tiwari, Pt. V.G. Jog, Dr. N. Rajam, Pt. Ramnarayan and Ghazal singer Ghulam Ali. He has been awarded Taal Mani from Sur Singar Samsad Mumbai, HMV Golden Talent award, and Taal Ratan from Los Angeles, USA.

Mr. Christus Stephen, a hard-working music professional with over 35 years' experience in performance, education, and training, he started his musical career as a violinist, at the age of 6. During his initial years he performed at All India Radio and Doordarshan and later went on to become a part of the Malayalam film industry as a recording artist. In 1995, he joined the Indian Navy as a violinist in the Naval Symphony Band and performed in over 24 countries, during his 15 years of service. He is a gifted musician who has mastered not only the string family instruments but also the French horn, piano, guitar, and percussions. He later worked independently as a sound engineer at Joshua studio. He has also produced several ads, jingles, and background scores for reputed companies. He is currently working on the upcoming Malayalam movie (John) and Marathi movie (Mubaicha Vadapav) as a Music Director. He is also the partner owner of Vizmaya studio.

Mr. Dee Wood is an American musician, a composer, instrumentalist and educator based in India from the past 35 years. He has been teaching music at Whistling Woods International since its inception and has guided and mentored hundreds of aspiring film makers and musicians.
Wood began his career in music performing in blues and rock bands in the Chicago area and went on to earn a BA in Music at Berklee College of Music. After graduation, Wood performed in Jazz and Latin groups and conducted workshops in varied institutions including Boston Ballet, MIT, Harvard, Whitney Museum of American Art and Berklee College of Music. He went on to earn a MA from Beacon College studying West African drum ensemble music in Togo West Africa, and Hindustani music in Bombay India. He went on to do extensive musical research in Mumbai on a Fulbright research scholarship.
Wood has collaborated internationally with various musicians. His film credits include composing original music for films with Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, Kabir Mohanty, Nilita Vachani, Anand Patwardhan, Victor Banerjee, Dev Benegal and Ruchir Joshi. Currently D. Wood performs as a bassist / composer and takes masterclasses in India and abroad.

Mr. Mayank Singh Rawat, a drummer and percussionist kick-started his rhythm journey in 2005. Trained under a renowned drummer, Ashwini Verma from band Euphoria, Mayank Singh Rawat is known for his aggressive and power sound over the drums. Later, he became a part of the renowned metal band called 'Night Wings III', whose work was globally recognised and published on various digital platform. Being a part of the heavy drum act, he also dedicated a song to 'Anonymous- The Legion Anthem', hacktivist society that got an overwhelming global response. In 2007 he started imparting his knowledge by holding drum workshops at various schools, colleges, and official organisations. As a music composer and stage artist, he has also collaborated with various Hindi film industry singers including Richa Sharma, Shruti Pathak and Bhoomi Trivedi.Currently he is a part of Indie Rock pop/funk act 'SaaR' and came up with Debut Album 'Rang'. He has collaborated and produced music for various organisations such as Netflix, TVF, Dice Media, etc. Recently he was also a part of the One Plus Music festival.

Mr. Mitilesh Patankar, a music director and arranger by profession, took Vocal Indian Classical training from Pt. Gajananrao Joshi. He pursued his career as a music director under the guidance of his father Vishwas Patankar, a well-known music director.
As a music composer & arranger, he has worked on several projects in Hindi and Marathi cinema. He has conceptualised and composed music for a fusion band called Mithaavin and actively participated in 'Sangeetkar Sammelan' since 2008 for eight years.
Mithilesh Patankar has also conceptualised a musical series of 26 episodes called Sugam Riyaz for All India Radio, which was based on the elements of light music. He has worked as a music arranger and a judge for Zee Marathi's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.
He was awarded MICTA Award for the Best Background Music for Marathi play, 'Aamhi Sau Kumud Prabhakar Aapte' in the year 2014. The following year he also received Chitrapadarpan Award as the Best Music Director for the Marathi album, 'Ghanachimba' in the non-film category.
He was also an on-screen mentor for a musical reality show on ETV Marathi. He has performed old Hindi songs as a singer at Kresge Theatre Boston, Berklee College Auditorium and Southern Theatre Columbus in the U.S.A for three consecutive years from 2015-2017 with a band of 22 musicians.

Mr. Sabapathi Rajan Pillai has been a part of the Indian Music Industry for the past 35 years. He is also a member of the Cine Musicians Association. He has played with Legendary Music composers like Kalyanji Anandji, R.D. Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal to name a few.
He has worked with some legendary playback singers of the industry like Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosale, Lata Mangeshkar, Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy and also accompanied them for their LIVE shows both in Indian as well as overseas.

Mr. Shankar Lakshmanan, in his career of over three decades has had the fortune and rich experience of sharing the stage with the legends of both Carnatic & Hindustani music. He has also been deeply involved with percussion ensembles in India & abroad. Currently, as a faculty at leading music institutes in Mumbai, he teaches both music and music appreciation. He is a devoted listener of diverse forms of music and this eclectic approach finds expression in his teaching and performance. Apart from his musical career, he also has a long-standing advertising career that pans over 20-years, including his stints in top-of-the-line global agencies. He is also currently an independent consultant.

Vijay is a pro audio specialist with a degree in recording arts and more than 20 years of experience in education, training, sales, installation, and technical support. He started his career as an assistant sound recordist and has since worked for some of the best companies in the business, including Yash Raj Films, NDTV, Star Network, Sahara India TV Network, Sony Entertainment Television, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and Films Division, Mumbai.In 2003, he pioneered the multi-track recording of live shows on non-linear media, in Kerala. An AVID certified Pro Tools Music Operator, Vijay served on the Indian Recording Arts Awards committee and jury in 2012, 2014, and 2015. He was instrumental in integrating the Digital Audio Denmark AX24 Box with a Pro Tools HD system at "In the Mix Studios" - A Hariharan Enterprise. This system was certified to Dolby E specifications and was eventually put into use by AVID.He received the Dronacharya Award for teachers in audio education in 2019. Vijay is also a professional member of the British Computer Society.

Javed Khan Kalawant belongs to illustrious Kalawant family of traditional musicians of Rajasthan.He has learnt Music under his maternal grandfather Ustad Munir Khan Sahab (disciple of legendary Ustad Amir Khan Sahab of Indore Gharana) and his uncle Ustad Bashir Khan Sahab of Delhi-Agra Gharana.He went on to acquire Graduation, Post Graduation and M.Phil degrees in classical vocal, all from Delhi University, topping the results at each level and winning a gold medal at the Master's stage.

Abhi is an accomplished pianist, composer, orchestrator, and arranger. He has trained under world-class Piano and Music Theory professors such as Marta Plasota (Poland), Gayane Aslanyan (Armenia) and Steve Jocic (Serbia), to name a few. He holds two Advanced Diplomas from Trinity College of London in Piano Performance (LTCL) and Music Theory: Composition and Orchestration (LMusTCL). A versatile musician with knowledge in multiple genres like Classical, Rock, Metal, Film Music, and Bollywood, Abhi has worked on various film scoring projects as a composer, arranger, and orchestrator.He has been a part of the core team of Bolly Piano (the largest online music learning platform in South Asia) as the Head of Operations and has worked as a transcriptionist and course designer on multiple music learning platforms. Abhi has collaborated with internationally renowned companies such as Stepping Stones, Flowkey, and Preply and individuals like Alexandre De Orio, Arvind Bhargav, Sagar Kapoor and many more.He has taught students from more than 50 countries for the past seven years, from complete beginners to university students. His learning journey never stops. Here at Whistling Woods, as a piano and orchestration faculty, Abhi keeps exploring new horizons by learning and experimenting with new music styles and genres.

Sushant Joshi is a music producer, sound designer, audio engineer and educator. He obtained his audio engineering degree from SAE in Mumbai and started his career by assisting film score composer Daniel B. George, working as an arranger and recording engineer for background score films like Agent Vinod, Maximum and Inkaar.With his extensive experience in music production, he has collaborated with music producers, performers, sound engineers, and artists for feature films, short films, radio jingles, television shows, ads as well as live performances. Sushant has also created music for award-winning feature/non-feature films, music albums, and ad films. In addition, he has worked in advertising for a significant period of time.One of Sushant's notable works is his music contribution for the environmental documentary film, The Tiger Who Crossed the Line, which won the National Award in 2017.Sushant's passion for music has also led him to teach aspiring music producers as a senior faculty at ILM Academy in Gurgaon. He also consults for music, sound design and audio requirements for games and animation.As an independent music producer, Sushant has worked with artists from different parts of India, focusing on music production, synthesizer, sound design, sound editing, mixing, and sound art. He releases music under his moniker, Aria Cluster where he uses sound in an experiential way with ambient and generative approach using a virtual modular synthesizer.

Mukut is a versatile music composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist with over four years of professional experience in music production, composition, and arrangement. With a deep understanding of both Indian and Western music traditions, Mukut brings a unique blend of cultural influences to his work.Throughout his musical journey, Mukut has demonstrated his proficiency across a wide spectrum of genres, including orchestral, acoustic, electronic, fusion, rock, and pop. His ability to seamlessly blend diverse musical elements has earned him recognition and praise within the industry.Mukut's collaborative spirit and exceptional talent have led him to work alongside esteemed artists, including his ongoing partnership with renowned Indian Sitarist, Pandit Ravi Chary. Together, they have embarked on successful tours, captivating audiences with their innovative fusion of traditional and contemporary sounds.Noteworthy among Mukut's achievements is his production of the anthem for Team India at the World Transplant Games 2023, a testament to his ability to evoke emotion and inspire through music. Additionally, he has lent his creative expertise to numerous projects, crafting original scores for short films and live dramas, further showcasing his versatility and adaptability as a composer.With a passion for pushing musical boundaries and a commitment to excellence, Mukut continues to make significant contributions to the world of music, captivating audiences and leaving a lasting impression with his compositions and productions.